We had a really nice Christmas this year and are most thankful for God's abundant blessings ... most importantly the gift of His son, His grace, the good health of our family members, our beloved dogs, and a loving and supportive circle of close family and dear friends. We started a few new Vaughan family traditions this year, such as having a "birthday" celebration on Christmas morning ... reading the story of the birth of Jesus from Luke and making a birthday cake and singing happy birthday to Jesus. Santa came to visit as well; Santa brings three gifts to Henry, representing the three gifts of the wise men. And, while Henry is young and didn't quite grasp this, this year, he will in years to come ... Henry (we) selected a toy of his to wrap up and give to someone else in need. We had a few other fun and worthwhile activities leading up to Christmas Day and hopefully throughout the year, not solely in December, we as a family will keep the true meaning of Christmas close at heart.
Henry really loved Christmas carols this year ... some of his favorites were: I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas, The First Noel, Frosty the Snowman, Away in a Manger, Rudolph and Jingle Bells. At Christmas Eve church service, we sang The First Noel ... part way into the first verse he blurted out with much enthusiasm, "NOEL, NOEL!" Even though it was really loud, it was so cute.
Unwrapping gifts on Christmas morning was a hoot; both sides of our family chide me each year for being the slowest present unwrapper. I have someone that shares that slowness, Henry! Hooray! Here is Henry with a gift from Santa, a tinker truck. The truck came with tools that allow you to literally take the truck apart and put it back together.
Another Santa gift was a rocket ship that has little play people (kind of like Fisher Price Little People sets). The last gift from Santa was a submarine toy for the bathtub. Henry likes the submarine and the little man that came with it, whom we call Jacques.
Gary and I gave Henry a learning laptop computer that works on letters, colors, shapes, etc., and the third Signing Time video. He still knows and practices his signs and loves the videos. Now that he talks non-stop, literally, he doesn't sign as much unless you interact/encourage him to converse with you in sign language.
my parents, brother and grandmother came over for a low country boil christmas lunch. it was great!
YaYa gave Henry a monkey napping mat - he LOVED it!
Auburn table place setting and manners guide from YaYa. He loved that too!
Christmas night we had dinner and celebrated with Gary's Dad. It was a really nice visit and Henry had a fantastic time!
Moving on from Christmas ... last week Henry got out his little storage bins from his room and decided to sit and read in them. He had a whole conversation with himself while he read this book ... it was so darn cute.
the dogs had a nice holiday too ... they've already torn up 3 of the 4 new toys Santa brought. they have been in the pack mindset lately and where one goes, the other two follow.
last week Gary took off work to spend the day with Henry while I was working and Henry's school was closed. He and his Dad took Henry to see a Sesame Street show. Henry had a blast! It was a 90 minute show and 90 minutes is a long time for a 2 year old boy to be sitting, so we weren't sure how he'd do, but he loved all the characters and the singing. Every time the singing paused, he'd say "Go see Elmo!"
YaYa gave Henry a monkey napping mat - he LOVED it!
Auburn table place setting and manners guide from YaYa. He loved that too!
Christmas night we had dinner and celebrated with Gary's Dad. It was a really nice visit and Henry had a fantastic time!
Moving on from Christmas ... last week Henry got out his little storage bins from his room and decided to sit and read in them. He had a whole conversation with himself while he read this book ... it was so darn cute.
the dogs had a nice holiday too ... they've already torn up 3 of the 4 new toys Santa brought. they have been in the pack mindset lately and where one goes, the other two follow.
last week Gary took off work to spend the day with Henry while I was working and Henry's school was closed. He and his Dad took Henry to see a Sesame Street show. Henry had a blast! It was a 90 minute show and 90 minutes is a long time for a 2 year old boy to be sitting, so we weren't sure how he'd do, but he loved all the characters and the singing. Every time the singing paused, he'd say "Go see Elmo!"
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Sadly, Auburn did not win the Iron Bowl. However, what a game! 
the old familiar orange robe makes its appearance
the petersons had their re-scheduled hay ride and marshmallow roast this past sunday afternoon. henry enjoyed getting some fresh air after being cooped up in the house for a week.
driving mr. brett's tractor